Is Ricky Hatton Past His Prime?

[MELLY-MEL...]

he is definately not the same fighter that destroyed kostya. not by a long shot. not sure if it's past prime, or maybe the killing of himself to make weight, and the ballooning up between fights is starting to take it's toll? not sure what it is exactly, but he has lost a step. sucks to, i mean he is just 30.

[Sin City]

No.. he just sucks.

[!! Shawn]

he is definately not the same fighter that destroyed kostya. not by a long shot. not sure if it's past prime, or maybe the killing of himself to make weight, and the ballooning up between fights is starting to take it's toll? not sure what it is exactly, but he has lost a step. sucks to, i mean he is just 30.

30 is old when you have had 45 fights worth of an agressive block punches with your face style.

[Sin City]

30 is old when you have had 45 fights worth of an aggressive block punches with your face style.

The level of opposition he has been up against hasn't been the most intense or the greatest. I can name a hand full of brawlers who have fought way bigger names with the same style and aren't "shot"... I think people are just giving excuses.

[WetSexyLlamaPR]

I think he's past his prime and I also think he's been overrated. No disrespect to any of his fans just my opinion. When he stepped up in class and fought in the US he got IMO exposed for being overrated. Luis Collazo hurt him and IMO won their fight. Kostya was old, he had ring rust and the fight was in the UK with a friendly ref. JLC was completely shot. The fact that Juan ****ing Lazcano could hurt him is bad news. I think it's a combination of him being overrated and him declining after taking accumulated punishment throughout his career. His style of coming straight at you and very little head movement wasn't meant to prolong careers but rather shorten them.

[!! Shawn]

The level of opposition he has been up against hasn't been the most intense or the greatest. I can name a hand full of brawlers who have fought way bigger names with the same style and aren't "shot"... I think people are just giving excuses.

How exactly does fighting "big names" contribute to the amount of punishment you take in 45 fights worth of sparring and preparation and FIGHTING? It doesn't. A punch is a punch. It ****s you up all the same.

[BMWM3P]

The way he was hitting this guy he should've gotten him out of there. A semi retired fringe contender was able to handle what Ricky had for him and put him on ***** street twice. He's lucky that the lightweight division is **** right now, if he ever where to step up to welter and fight Cotto, Cotto would end his career. Hatton has clearly seen better days.

[MJ406]

^ your right, it's a double edged sword IMO.

yes Hatton only lost 2 rounds on 1 scorecard ... but he was the more active fighter, and did land his fair share of punishing shots to convincing win this fight .. and at times it really did look like Ricky was going to get the stoppage

I clearly recall hearing Ronnie Shields urging Lazcano to use more D or he would stop the fight.

but I agree with the thread title. not shot, not one foot into retirement but coming off a knock out loss or not, Hatton was going up against a fighter who hadn't fought in over a year ... and to be honest, I came away pretty impressed with Lazcano's effort in the fight.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

He dominated the fight but got tagged twice and now he's shot.... wow
that emeans every single boxer who gets rocked is shot...

Did you consider that a dominant performance?

[Guest]

Hatton's in his prime right now. He just happens to suck really bad. He has only looked good in 2 fights: Tsyzu, when the referee was letting him get away with anything and everything, and against a faded, washed up version of JLC. In his prime, Hatton has struggled with fringe contenders like Maussa, Urango, and Collazo and was completely outclassed by Mayweather. Based on his previous performances, tonight's showing is what we have come to expect from prime Hatton...